The BC Lions held their annual Fan Fest event in Kamloops on Sunday and once again it was a big success. Sunny warm temperatures finally graced the tournament capital and fan young and old came to mingle with their football team.

One of the priorities that Bob Ackles had when he came back to the Lions was to grow the game at the grass roots level, and events like the Lions put on today do just that. Young aspiring football players and others that may have been introduced to the game for the first time descended on Hillside Stadium at Thompson Rivers University to “Play with the pros.”

For other fans, the chance to get their favourite players autograph or picture was the draw of the day. I’ll say this unequivocally; there is no other league whose players mingle with the fans better than the CFL.

The team followed the festivities with a practice and a non contact scrimmage for those in attendance.

I hope this gallery gives you a sense of the great atmosphere that was present in Kamloops today. This ends our on location training camp coverage for 2012, as we have to return to the real world on Monday. We hope you enjoyed the pictures and the updates. We look forward to the start of the preseason this Wednesday!

A few pictures from the June 8th morning session of BC Lions training camp in Kamloops. The session was a spirited one with a little more hitting but also saw many mistakes. Fumbles, interceptions, knocked down passes. Coach Benevides warned the team that this morning’s session was unacceptable.

We’ll have some thoughts about the sessions later tonight, but for now, the morning in pictures.

Sorry this is posted late, internet problems in the hotel and the arranging of a small get together in Kamloops delayed my intentions a little. More on that at the end of this, but first a quick recap of my observations from my first day in Kamloops.

The morning session saw mainly clear skies to start but cool temperatures. The sun didn’t stay long however and was gone by the end of the session. In the afternoon, cool, grey, windy and at times rainy conditions were present and only the diehards were in the stands.

Receivers

The starting receivers group looks to be Simon, Bruce, Foster, Gore, and Kierre Johnson. Newcomer Ernest Jackson had a strong session in the afternoon. Kierre Johnson is looking very fast and is catching everything. With his small stature, some felt he might be in tough for his roster spot, especially with some of the players they have brought to camp, but to me he was one of the most dangerous players out there. He’s also being used as one of the primary kick returners so far and is looking dangerous there, albeit with limited contact to date. Marco Iannuzzi sat out the afternoon session and looked to have a minor “lower body” injury.

Running backs

Andrew Harris is going to have a big year. He looks ready to be a prime time player in this league, in case his performance last year wasn’t enough of a clue. Behind him, I thought Anthony Stewart has a few nice runs, but he’s very small. Didn’t notice much of Stu Foord, but rookie Nic Grigsby also had some nice carries.

Kabongo watch

The best battles of the day were the one on ones between Patrick Kabongo and Khalif Mitchell. The two put on an impressive display and showed a mutual respect for one another. As someone who had concerns about how heavy Kabongo came into camp, I had some of those alleviated after seeing how well the big man moves and seeing his work ethic. He is fitting in well with the existing offensive line members and is a leader on the field. With a little bit of weight loss and some fine tuning by Dan Dorazio, Kabongo could very well prove to be a solid pick up by the Lions with the injuries they have incurred on the line to date.

Linebacker

As reported, the Lions are going to give James Yurichuk every chance to stake claim to the middle linebacker spot of the departed Solomon Elimimian. It’s really tough to get a gauge on how he’s doing right now, because at this point in camp, there isn’t a lot of hitting going on. I expect to see a bit more on Friday and Saturday, and of course we’ll all get a first hand look Wednesday against the Riders. Anton McKenzie has two strong sessions including almost picking off Travis Lulay. Adam Bighill is also in the mix, but the job is Yurichuk’s to lose.

The secondary

This is definitely an area of strength for the Lions and it shows. Byron Parker is fitting in nicely, both on the field and the trash talking department among the unit. The real standout for me today though was safety Cauchy Muamba who picked off Lulay and looks to be grabbing hold of the starting safety spot. Lin-J Shell continues to see second team reps and Anthony Reddick looks to be getting most of the reps at the nickle back spot.

Sitting

Angus Reid sat out the morning session for what was referred to by the team as a maintenance day. He was back in the afternoon session. Defensive lineman Maurice Evans tweaked something in the morning and was sitting out the afternoon along with LB Adam Leonard who looks close to returning. As mentioned above Iannuzzi also sat out the afternoon.

Social

If you’re going to be in Kamloops on Saturday night, June 9th, a few Lions fans are getting together at the Boston Pizza at 500 Notre Dame Drive at 7:30pm. If you would like to join us, please e-mail me at brian@bclionsden.ca and we’ll make sure we save a seat for you.

Vancouverites and others got a chance to see what they’re tax dollars are going towards Sunday when BC Place stadium opened its doors to the public to show itself of. The stadium of course isn’t complete, but it didn’t need to be to impress those that attended.

The first thing I noticed when I walked in was how massive this project is and the incredible engineering that has gone into it. The stadium seems bigger, mostly because the roof is much higher than the old one.

The public was confined to a secured area at field level and BC Place staff and construction team members were on hand to answer questions from visitors.

The most impressive feature is of course the new retractable roof structure. Several panels of the fixed portion of the roof are now in place, and the structure that supports it is very impressive. Story boards were placed around the floor describing the various upgrades and additions to the stadium.

One of the most anticipated features will be the new video screen that will be installed in the middle of the roof structure. The 4-sided screen will be one of the largest of its kind. The largest panels that will be aligned along the length of the field will be 68’ long and 38’ high. The video board will be the latest in High Definition technology. That section alone is an area equivalent to 450 – 42”flat screen TV’s. In addition to the video board, a new 360 degree ribbon board will be in place on the upper bowl fascia and will coordinate with the main video boards.

If that’s not impressive enough for you, a 12 metre high façade plus mast lighting and fixed fabric roof lighting will combine to create custom light shows both inside and outside the stadium on event nights.

Athletes that play in the stadium will be doing so on the most advanced and state of the art playing surface available. The surface will be a permanent one and will be laid in one piece, making it seamless. It is also FIFA approved to host international soccer events. During concerts and trade shows the field will be protected with a custom cover.

Combine that with wider seats with cup holders, renovated suites, washrooms, concessions and concourses, and BC Place stadium is soon to become one of the best stadiums in North America.

As BC Lions season ticket holder, I can’t wait! Now, if we can just start winning some football games!

The Lions may have lost the game but once again the tailgate party was a winner! Tailgate Empire kicked it up a notch with some outstanding food. Take a look at some of the fun in this photo slideshow!